Challenges I have met in discussing BILL HB# 1164

Rep. Bruce Ayers introduced a bill and it is in the judiciary committee.
There doesn't seem a way to find out if there is a lot of votes. I think that would be interesting if I knew if I am working for something, no one wants.
I have met some challenges in trying to get people interested in this bill : Here are some examples on what I have been challenged with.

 example "but he is mentally ill, she\he really didn't mean to blacken your eye and knock out your front tooth, give him\her a break" Many people are said to be mentally ill and we as a nation should be grateful we have medication to help their illness. BUT if the same person  assaults a healthcare worker why shouldn't s/he get punished for it.  
 I am not writing about the person that is in crisis and psychotic. I am writing about the person that goes shopping, drives a car ,works etc. s/he knows right from wrong. That is a hugh difference. 

Another example I ran into is 'BUT HE WAS DRUNK" so now healthcare workers should not blame that person that just punched, spit and kicked a nurse because he drank to much? Lucky this person wasn't behind the wheel of a car and hit someone ,I wonder how that family would feel? I also feel if the person that is drunk hits a healthcare worker ,if s/he was at home would s/he abuse his family members? Maybe we should send out DCF to all the families ,just to check on them and make sure they aren't abused! Maybe we should think about any person that has been drinking and assaulting the healthcare workers ,maybe the next step could be a section # 35.

 Example: I am not going to support your bill because it is racist. Another way to get the black man or woman in trouble. "I don't think anyone should be abused but I am afraid the black person would get a heavier sentence than a white person."

This whole experience has widen my eyes. I feel that I am helping all healthcare workers and the EMT"S . BUT I also need to think about how others perceive this bill.
If people truly believe anyone that is diagnosed with a psych disorder should be able to do anything they want without any consequences.

The person that drinks to much and assaults healthcare workers and EMT's maybe s/he should also not be blamed and continue in their life style without consequences because like the psych. person he isn't thinking straight.

Now for the people that feel a black person would get a heavier sentence I am still perplexed on that. Could that really happen? What about the others that assault us? Would they get heavier sentences?

All of this is food for thought and makes me wonder why people feel it is acceptable for people to assault healthcare workers and EMT's with out any punishment.

I will leave this blog with a short story : I came into work and a nurse came over to me and told me how she was slapped in the face by one of the patients. She was  upset and I could see the red mark on her neck. I asked if she was seen by the MD and made out the incident reports. It was the end of the shift for her. When she was gone to finish up and give report to the next shift another nurse  grabbed my arm and said " I don't know why she is complaining about that slap ,she really wasn't hit that hard"!
Makes me wonder! The picture below was one of my co workers after a patient she had taken care of many times ,punch her in the face so hard ,she fell against some cabinets and injured her shoulder. This nurse was out of work for about 6 months and had to leave the job.

Can a change in the law work?

I have been working on trying to change the MA.state law about from a misdemeanor to a felony about assaulting health care workers.


 Our law in Ma. is "Whoever commits an assault or an assault and battery on an Emergency Medical technician an ambulance operator, an ambulance attendant or a health care provider as defined in section 1 of chapter 111,while the technician ,operator,attendant or provider is treating or transporting a person in the line of duty ,shall be punished by imprisonment in the house of correction for not less than 90 days nor more than 2 and one half years or by a fine of not less than $500.00 nor more than $5000.00 or both. This is what the State of Ma. Has ,it is a misdemeanor . Now if the State had a felony this is more serious. The person could go directly to prison. Have
Would that all it takes to stop the violence? A threat of prison?
Would that allow  the nurses the freedom to make out more incident reports?
Would the organization be more aware of the assaults the healthcare workers are receiving?
I am not sure of the answers to those questions,maybe someone could answer them for me.
Does your State have the felony law in place for assaulting a healthcare worker Does it work?

Sheila Wilson R.N.BSN MPH

www.stophealthcareviolence.org

Stopping the violence can be stopped if we work together !!!!!!!!!!!

Time goes by so fast , that if we don't take a breath we will never be able to live in the moment.

I am getting all sorts of emails and phone calls from healthcare workers that have been assaulted.
The name calling, pushing ,shoving,biting ,spitting etc. is still going on. When will it stop?
That question has been around for years,The answer is
.If we as healthcare workers don't do anything about it and allow these people to assault us, the violence will go  on forever.
But if we work with our institution and keep at it ,it can be stopped.

I can hear you say ( because I have been there)

1. IF I complain about it I could lose my job.
 BUT if you don't complain about it you could lose your life or be injured enough that you can't work at all.

2.The patient didn't really mean it, s\he was really intoxicated.
 What does this person do to the family when s\he is drunk. Does being drunk excuse the behavior? What if this person was driving while drunk and hit and killed someone is that alright?????

3. These are just two examples that I hear us say to frequently. We need to put on our professional hats and make a stand.



In the ENA position statement  it is written:

Health care organizations have a responsibility to provide a safe and secure environment for their employees and the public.

Band together and help the organization  keep you safe ! Make noise, don't allow one more person to hurt you.


Happy  New Year......

Sheila Wilson R.N.BSN MPH

www.stophealthcareviolence.org

Nurses speaking out, their lives changed forever.

Yesterday during the 11 pm news on channel 4 Boston,there was the I team doing a piece on healthcareviolence. One of the nurses featured was one of my co workers,her life was changed by that assault,another Nurse stated she was sexually assaulted at her hospital and told by "a higher up that it was part of the job"

Please listen to this, we need to have administration understand it is wrong to be assaulted at work!

I want to thank the nurses that had the courage to speak out.Also MNA for always being there to help

WWW.stophealthcareviolence.org

Sheila Wilson R.N.BSN MPH

If a patient squeezes your breast would you say you were assaulted?

I was speaking to a couple of nurses I just met and I was asking them if they get a assaulted at work. One of the nurses stated that never happened to her,she looked confused and asked if nurses really got assaulted at work. I went into a long and lengthy detail about how the violence is worse than ever. That nurses have to become change agents ,stick together and work with the institution so no one gets hurt.
After our talk she stated she did know someone that was injured but never heard it from the hospital but read it in the newspaper. I thought why was the staff of nurses so quiet ???? They should have been making a lot of noise to stop the violence from ever happening again.
Then I spoke to another nurse and if I had shut my eyes I would have thought I was back in the ER's I had worked. When I asked her if she was ever assaulted,she smiled and stated WELL a little , when I questioned a little further YES she had her wrist twisted,she has been slapped and also had her breast squeezed by a a patient/customer. I asked what did you do ? Her response was "I told them not to do that again,then they said I was being mean to them" This is what I meant when I said I felt I was back in my ER"S the nurses wrote up reports but nothing ever changed,it seemed no one cared enough to follow up.
I wonder what people think about being grabbed,punched ,hit, slapped or having your breasts squeezed. Is that alright? Should this person be held responsible for this action? I bet since no punishment is given, s/he will do it again and laugh. My other concern is this same person doing it to family members?
What if the healthcare workers grabbed some guys penis and laughed ,I bet there would be HELL to be paid!
What do you think?????

WWW.stophealthcareviolence.org

Sheila Wilson R.N. BSN MPH

Because nothing gets done!

It is amazing ,what is in the news today and the news of yesteryear  ;. Are they all that different?
When we communicate to each other and hear different opinions . we hear things,that can make us think outside of what we normally would think..That is good!
I was listening to the conversation about why the students don't make out police reports after they have been assaulted! Someone spoke up and stated they do make out reports but not everyone, because they know nothing will get done.  Then you find out that nothing was done and the colleges are now being looked at because they didn't address the issue. .
Why is it the females in the armed services don't make out reports after being assaulted or did they? Now armed forces are under scrutiny, to find out why,they didn't address the issue of the reports?
Why are the women that are involved in domestic abuse ,staying ? Not leaving that situation! Is it because nothing really gets done?
Why is it that healthcare workers aren't making out reports? or are they and again NOTHING GETS DONE

Because nothing gets done to help the situations...... These are complicated,serious,hard issues.
I certainly am not linking all these issues together but look at what I wrote, there is one link,one thread that ties all these together.
   IT happens to women, I don't want you to think that I don't think it could happen to men ,I know it does however the stats will show you it is the women that get assaulted more then men. however it is about women.
We need to do something!
I don't understand why a college wouldn't want to keep its students safe?
Why does the armed forces fail to keep their people safe .
Why does the Domestic violence still have a high rate of offenders.
Why are healthcare workers still being assaulted and again the people that can prevent it ,DON'T?
I hope some one will have the answers and share them...
No one deserves to be assaulted,college females the females that will some day run our country ,women in the service protecting our country .
Mothers ,woman don't deserve to be beaten for any reason.
I would like to see that all hospitals work together to help their employees be safe..
All the solutions are already available ,all they would have to do is activate them. Wouldn't cost a lot!


Sheila Wilson R.N.BSN MPH
www.stophealthcareviolence.org

Please read it is really important ,It could happen to you if you are not safe at work!



I am saddened by this story, a nurse goes to work and gets stabbed!!!!  How and why does this happen. If you can about healthcare workers read this story. The stabbings took place out in Calif. ( lets not forget about the nurse in Texas or anyone else that has been assaulted) . Could it have happened in your hospital? http://www.bizjournals.com/sacramento/news/2014/04/23/nurses-push-for-better-hospital-safety-after.html

This really doesn't have to happen if we worked together to keep our places safe


www.stophealthcareviolence.org

Sheila Wilson R.N. BSN MPH